Longview Stampede

[Rick C]

Longview is a small hamlet, population less than 1000, about 40 minutes southwest of Calgary, surrounded by oil wells by the way, with the Rockies practically on top of you. It was once named Little New York.

It's pretty close to my house so I went over on Saturday night to shoot some Stampede on the bald butt prairie.



Above, he's about to enter the chute for calf-roping at the Longview Stampede but this cowboy seems to take a moment to call on a higher power for aid.



Above, in the chute, hat buttoned down, one hand on the rein . . . . . ready to go . . .



Above, it's grit and bear it for eight seconds for this cowboy in bareback . . . . .



Above, chaps are flying . . . . . but he hung on . . .



. . . . even as this cowboy was beaten into the dirt . . . I've actually got a great sequence of shots with this guy, hitting the dirt, stunned, then gradually moving towards that hat and picking it up.



Above, mayhem to the left, dead calm to the right . . . . . it's the wild horse race at the Longview Stampede where a cowboy has climbed about his disagreeable horse while the judges straddling the fence seem to be ignoring his plight and engaging in a leisurely conversation.



Above, the next generation . . . .



., . . . and the grizzled veteran, looking every bit like The Marlboro Man



Above, an orderly rope is the thing . . . . .



Above, a mighty mite cowgirl, probably only about 12 years old, has full control of her horse on the final turn of her barrel race, one hand on the saddlehorn and the other on her reins . . . .



Above, a cowgirl races a lowering sun for the final barrel across the treeless prairie . . . .



Above, the crowd . . . . . as I was shooting there was also an unlikely German camera crew beside me, complete with two rather slinky hostesses offering their teutonic impressions for the lense. But these kinds of out of the way events are exactly what tourists should be looking for in any country.

Continued below:

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[Rick C]

. . . continued from above



The sun sets on two young cowhands and another day of rodeo in small town Alberta. The hotel behind is on a main north/south highway, The Cowboy Trail, while Longview is also a junction into Kananaskis Country. On summer weekends, this place is packed with motorbikes on excursions from the city. This is also the last point of civilization for the movie sets further down the highway and names like Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Brad Pitt, etc, have their names autographed on the wall of Memories Inn.

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[wdawson]

great action shots

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by Rick C

a cowboy has climbed about his disagreeable horse while the judges straddling the fence seem to be ignoring his plight and engaging in a leisurely conversation.

Great shot love the look on his face

Originally Posted by Rick C

. . . and the grizzled veteran, looking every bit like The Marlboro Man

He sure does look like TMM.

Originally Posted by Rick C

Above, a mighty mite cowgirl, probably only about 12 years old, has full control of her horse on the final turn of her barrel race, one hand on the saddlehorn and the other on her reins . . . .

That's a great pic I'll bet she & her parents would like a copy of it too